Making Sense of Women Managers’ Identities through the Constructions of Managerial Career and Gender

• Main Author: Lepistö-Johansson, Piia
• Other Authors: Pietiläinen, Tarja, Kovalainen, Anne, Aaltio, Iiris, Lappeenrannan teknillinen yliopisto, Kauppatieteellinen tiedekunta, Johtaminen ja kansainvälinen liiketoiminta, Johtaminen ja organisaatiot : Lappeenranta University of Technology, School of Business, Management and International Business, Management and Organisations
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Lappeenranta University of Technology 2009
• Subjects: women managers; managerial identity; career; gender; discourse; karelian
• Online Access: http://lutpub.lut.fi/handle/10024/43263

This doctoral thesis is about gendered managerial identity construction of women managers. Finnish women managers have been researched from the viewpoints of equality and discrimination issues, careers, and women’s overall positions in work life. However, managerial identity has remained as an unexplored territory. The phenomenon is approached discourse analytically; an interview material that is gathered from 13 women managers in the South-Karelian region is in focus. By studying discourses it is possible to open up understandings how meanings are given to experiences. Women managers’ identity construction is examined from the perspectives of managerial career, managerial practices, and gender. Gender is a meta-concept in this research, as it so profoundly affects our sense of being and acting, although the meaning of it often remains undervalued, invisible, or even denied. This research shows that gender becomes highly visible in managerial contexts, when it is used for some specific purpose, that is, treated as a strategy. By studying women managers it is possible to demystify often so abstract managerial ideals, and open up their taken-for-granted masculine subtexts. It is argued that from the point of view of conducting managerial work, the meaning of self-knowledge appears as critical.